by Layla Hagen
“Yeah. You’re doing it just right. We need the right heat point.”
“Are we still talking about marshmallows?”
I grinned. “I am. You weren’t?”
She became even more flustered.
“Whatever you were imagining, it’s nothing compared to how good I’ll make tonight for you. That’s a promise, Maddie.” Her cheeks were tinted red as I moved the skewer out of the fire. The marshmallow was roasted to perfection.
“We should get going if we want to see those fireworks,” I said as she blew cold air over the marshmallow.
“Let’s do that. But we have to stop by my house first. I want to change.”
“As you wish, Ms. Jennings.”
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie
I couldn’t believe Landon was in my living room. Through the cracked door of my bedroom, I could hear him moving around, pacing. My heart rate picked up every time I thought he was coming closer. I’d wanted to change because I’d gotten all sweaty from being near the fire. I inspected my dress in the floor-length mirror. Was this enough? Was it too much? It reached down to my knees, hugged my waist nicely, and ended in a heart-shaped trim over my chest, showing a smidge of cleavage. Spaghetti straps ran over my shoulders. I couldn’t believe I was fretting so much over an outfit. Having Landon in my living room was messing with my mind.
Rubbing my hands, I tried maneuvering my zipper again. When I’d tried to zip it earlier, it got stuck in the middle of my back.
“Come on,” I urged, pulling and pushing, and pulling some more. It didn’t budge. I debated just walking out like this, but one glance at my back in the mirror confirmed my suspicion that I couldn’t pull off edgy. I’d just look... unzipped.
I tried unlocking the zipper some more, crying out in frustration. A knock at my partially open door made me jump.
“Everything okay, Maddie?”
“Zipper’s stuck,” I muttered through gritted teeth, red in the face from the effort. “I give up. Can you help?”
I sucked in a breath when he stepped inside. His presence seemed to fill the entire room. I immediately became conscious of the small space, the simple white furniture. I imagined he was used to luxury.
“If you can’t zip it up, try in the other direction so I can at least change.”
Landon stepped behind me. I was still in front of the mirror, so I could see his expression of intense concentration as he worked my zipper. It looked hot as all get-out. Everything about him was just so masculine—the set of his jaw, the angle of his cheekbones. Inwardly, I was clenching and contracting every muscle, feeling every cell light up as his fingers moved on my spine, then touched the back of my neck, as he pulled at the fabric. Then they brushed down my spine again.
Ziiiiiiip.
The zipper finally budged, only not upward. Landon had pulled at it with such force, that the momentum carried the movement a long way down, so now my entire ass was on display, the tip of Landon’s thumb resting on one cheek.
I sucked in a breath. He groaned—a deep, primal sound that weakened my knees.
“You’re so beautiful, Maddie. So beautiful.”
In the mirror, I could see him looking down at my ass. When he snapped his gaze up to mine, I saw the feral glint in his eyes, the way his Adam’s apple dipped on a swallow. I knew we wouldn’t be leaving my bedroom tonight.
He brought his other hand to my shoulder, brushing my hair away from my neck. I instinctively tilted my head to the other side, giving him better access. I needed his lips on me, his touch. I craved it so much that I felt I was going to break out of my skin.
He kissed my neck, and my pulse skittered.
“I want you so much, Maddie.” His voice shook, as if he was using all his restraint to keep from ravishing me and couldn’t spare even an ounce of it to control his voice. “I wanted to talk first, but... I want you too much. I want to taste you. All of you. I want to make you moan my name when I’m buried inside you. I want to feel you come around me.”
Ohmygod.
“We can talk tomorrow,” I whispered.
I didn’t even want to think about tomorrow. Right now, no reason was good enough to pass up the deliciousness that was Landon Connor.
“Tomorrow,” he repeated. And then he slipped his fingers under the spaghetti straps and pushed my dress down. My bra went next, landing at my feet with a soft thump. I was naked except for my thong. Usually, standing in front of a mirror brought on self-conscious thoughts, but seeing the desire in Landon’s expression chased away any self-doubt. He draped those strong arms around me, one hand flicking my nipples, the other traveling south, slipping into my thong.
“Oh, God!”
He ran his middle finger up and down my slit slowly. Up, and down... up again, teasing my clit... down again. He was driving me crazy. I pushed back on reflex and felt through his jeans that he was hard.
“I’ll make you scream my name tonight, Maddie. Right here, in your bedroom.”
“I already did. After our first kiss, when I came home...,” I confessed, the words feeling deliciously sinful.
He bit on my earlobe, then licked that spot. “You made yourself come, thinking about me?”
I became slick between my legs at his dirty words.
“Yes.”
“I did that the night we danced.” His voice had become raspier. “I started touching myself while we were still talking on the phone.” He started circling my clit faster, pressing harder. I writhed against him, feeling my nerve endings dance with pleasure already.
“I will make you come like this, Maddie.”
It was too much, feeling his erection push along the crack between my cheeks, his dirty words in my ear, his fingers on my nipple, and my clit....
I came so fast and hard that my breath was knocked out of me. My entire back arched, and for a moment I was sure I’d crumple to the floor, but Landon held me until I rode out my climax. I’d barely regained my breath when he lowered himself to his knees behind me, pushing my thong down.
“Step out of them, Maddie. Then put your hands at the edge of the mirror and spread your legs for me. I want to taste you.”
I leaned slightly forward, bracing my hands on the wooden frame of the mirror. Through my parted legs, I saw Landon bring his mouth closer to my center. I cried out at the first swipe of tongue.
“Landon!”
He licked me until I went up on my toes, no longer able to control the energy coursing through me. Watching us in the mirror magnified every sensation. Then his face disappeared from between my legs. I barely had time to wonder what would come next when he parted my cheeks and drew his tongue between them. I gripped the frame so tightly I was surprised the wood didn’t crumble.
Then he kissed each of my ass cheeks, rose to his feet, and spun me around. Through the haze of lust, the only thing I could concentrate on was getting him naked. Up with his shirt, down with his pants and boxers. The man was a work of art. His muscles were even more defined, more sculpted than I’d imagined. And I’d spent a lot of time imagining.
“Maddie, I don’t have condoms with me.”
“I have some. I’ll be right back.”
I went to my bathroom and found an unopened box in cabinet. I checked the package for an expiration date, because I’d had it for months, but didn’t find anything. Whatever. They’d have to do.
When I returned to my room, Landon was standing at the edge of my bed, touching himself.
I sat on the bed facing him, ripping the foil of the condom. But before I sheathed him, I took him in my mouth, going down as much as I could.
“Maddie! Maddie!”
He fisted my hair, moving my head up and down his length exactly twice before pulling out.
“Lie on your back,” he said.
We rolled the condom on his erection together, and then I crawled to the center of my bed, lying on my back.
Landon moved on top of me, settling between my legs. He didn’t push insid
e me, though. Instead, he cupped my face and kissed me so tenderly that I nearly cried from the beauty of it. After all our dirty confessions, his sweet exploration of my mouth was unexpected. He pushed inside me slowly. Even though I was sopping wet, he was so thick that I needed time to adjust. He rubbed just the head of his cock inside me, until I cried out for him.
“Landon, I need you all the way inside. Please.”
He obliged, sliding inside me to the hilt. My inner muscles twitched and pulsed as he stretched me, adjusting.
“You feel so perfect,” he said.
He wrapped his arms around me, resting his head in the crook of my neck. Emotion welled up in my chest, and I was shaking with the effort of containing it. When I realized that his chest was shaking too, I ran my hands down his arms, my heels on the back of his legs, needing to touch as much of him as possible. Keeping me tightly to him, he started driving in and out, every thrust deeper and faster. I thought he might split me in half. Then he changed the position, moving his arms away. On one, he pushed himself slightly up, the other he slipped between us.
“Landon!” I gasped as he took one of my nipples in his mouth, then the other. I missed the full-frontal contact, but I loved his tongue around my nipple, his thumb on my clit. It was all becoming too much again. Tension was building inside me, spurred by his tongue, his fingers, his cock.
I dug my heels in the mattress, lifting my ass up and meeting his thrusts with fervor, until my muscles were burning.
“Fuuuuuck!” He widened inside me, and the realization that he was about to come sent me right over the edge. I cried out, bracing my hands on his shoulders, writhing until he climaxed too.
We lay like that, entwined in all ways, wrapped up in each other until our pulses returned to normal.
“Are you okay?” he whispered. I nodded, still lost in him. He was cradling me in his arms, peppering my neck with kisses. “I didn’t mean to be so rough.”
“I loved it.”
He cradled me even closer. We were both sweaty, but I loved the closeness, the way he held me as if I was so precious to him that he couldn’t let go.
Emotions engulfed me again, and all I could do was hold on tight to him. Landon let go of me just long enough to take care of the condom, then spooned with me, flattening his chest against my back. He skimmed one big hand over my breasts, flicking my nipples. A shot of energy coursed straight between my legs. Landon didn’t miss it, and he lowered his hand, nudging my thighs apart. I bit into the pillow when his thumb flicked my clit.
“I’m still tender,” I whispered.
“Which means you’ll come faster.” He flipped me on my belly the next second. He braced his thighs at my sides, trapping me beneath him. My heartbeat pounded in my ears as he kissed up my spine, then moved over to one shoulder. His tongue traced a spot on my right shoulder blade.
“Birthmark,” I whispered.
“Mmm....” He readjusted his thighs on the mattress as he trailed his mouth farther down.
“What are you doing?”
“Searching for other birthmarks.”
“Will you take my word that I don’t have others?”
I felt the corner of his lips lift in a smile against my lower back. “I’m a thorough man. I like to check everything myself.”
I grinned into the pillow, flicking my toes against one another in excitement. Landon explored every inch of me, touching my skin almost in reverence, as if I was all that mattered to him. He kissed, and licked, and touched until I was trembling beneath him.
“I’m not done making you come tonight, Maddie. Not nearly done. I will love you all night long. I promise.”
He kept his promise, loving me tenderly, then fast and hard again, until we were both spent and fell asleep together.
Chapter Fifteen
Maddie
I hid my head under a pillow when the alarm clock went off. Every inch of my body protested at the mere idea of climbing out of bed. I felt like sleeping for a week. Reaching blindly to my nightstand, I snoozed the alarm, stretching out on the entire bed.
I didn’t have time to be lazy this morning, because I had to go downtown and pick up some permits for my next project before going to Val’s. I should have set my alarm clock fifteen minutes earlier so I could cuddle with the man responsible for the delicious ache in my body. It took me a second to realize that Landon wasn’t next to me. Wiping the haze of sleep from my eyes, I peered around. The door to the living room was open, and the smell of coffee filtered in. Did Landon make coffee?
I threw on a robe and headed out to my living room. Landon was standing at my kitchen island, fully dressed. He had his back to me, and I had a prime view of his ass. Now that I knew how it looked naked, I found it even more irresistible. I didn’t know what to say, or how to act, but I took it as a good sign that he was here, in my kitchen. The floor creaked under my feet, and he whirled around.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said.
The tension melted away from my limbs, just from hearing those two words. He had a great voice. Strong yet sweet, and somehow seemed to say, I wouldn’t bolt in the middle of the night. You’re worth more than that.
“Morning.”
“I made coffee.” He handed me a mug, which I took with both hands. Landon stepped closer, watching me intently as I sipped from my cup. “Let’s go have breakfast, somewhere on a beach. I want to spend this day with you. The morning at least.”
My insides melted. “I really want to, but I can’t.”
He kissed my right temple, murmuring, “Here’s a little secret. I’m related to your client. I can pull strings for favors.”
“I know, but I actually have an appointment to pick up some permits. It’s taken ages for them to be processed, so I don’t want to miss the chance.”
“I can pull strings with people who aren’t related to me too, you know. You need anything done, tell me.”
“Thanks, you’re very generous.”
“You just have to say what you need, sweetheart. I can’t guess that. Yet.”
I sucked in a deep breath. He smelled amazing, all man. I rested my chin on his chest, peppering his Adam’s apple with kisses. If it weren’t for that appointment I could soak up all the deliciousness that was Landon this morning. He swung his arms around my waist, hoisting me close to him. Surrounded by him like this, I couldn’t help but wonder if Landon was the kind of man who’d always be on my team.
“You have great arms,” I murmured. “And a great voice.”
He laughed. “I like where this is going.”
“I’d go on, but I really have to hop in a shower.”
“I’ll see you at lunch and we’ll talk some more.”
“Okay. Will you bring something delicious?”
“Of course. I’ll bring food. And myself.”
“Whoa! You have a cocky side. I wondered when it would show up.” I stepped back, folding my arms over my chest and tsking.
“You assumed I have one?” he challenged.
“Landon, be serious. Looking the way you do, and doing what you do for a living, I expected your cockiness factor to be somewhere around a million, give or take.”
He grinned. “Looking the way I do?”
I grinned back. “Well, I mentioned your voice and arms. I’d rattle off the rest, but the shower is waiting for me. You have something to look forward to at lunch. Can’t tell all my secrets first thing in the morning.”
***
As it turned out, the few minutes I had with Landon were the best part of the morning. The clerk in charge of signing my permits seemed to doubt I was qualified for the job.
“You’re working alone, yes?” he asked. His office was small and stuffy, and he smelled like he’d worn that shirt since Christmas.
“I hire people on site for every project.”
“Schools are of public interest. Are you sure your... company can handle it?”
“The scope of the project is limited. I could do it myself if neces
sary. And it’s a private school, not a public one,” I countered.
“But you still need permits from us. I need more time to look into it.”
I drew in a deep breath, forcing myself to remain calm. I knew what would happen if I gave him time. He’d take so long that I’d never get my permits on time. I was slated to start this project right after I finished Val’s. I promised my clients an all-in-one solution, and I intended to deliver.
I hadn’t gotten to where I was by waiting for things to happen. I fought tooth and nail to make them happen. Straightening up, I smiled and laid on the charm thickly, pimping myself like there was no tomorrow. Ten minutes later, I left with my permits.
On my way to Val’s, I switched on my phone. I’d turned it off during the appointment.
An unread message popped up.
Landon: Val had an accident with a drunk driver. Call when you see this.
Oh my God! I checked the time—he’d texted an hour ago. I was too petrified to call him, or do anything except hope and pray that Val was all right. She had to be. Taking a few deep breaths, I finally called Landon. He answered immediately.
“Hey!” he said.
“Hey! How’s Val doing?”
I held the wheel of my car tightly with one hand. My stomach was churning already.
“Three broken ribs, and her right leg’s broken too.”
“Oh no.”
“She’s going to be in the hospital for a night, and then she’ll need to take things slow for about six weeks.”
“What happened?”
“She had a big meeting today and drove to her office to prepare for it. A drunk idiot slammed into her car.” His voice was so tight, I wanted to reach out through the phone and wrap my arms around him.
“You’re at the hospital now?”
“I was there earlier, but I left because she asked me to attend the meeting in her place. I’m on my way there.”
“You’re joking, right?”
Landon laughed. “I’m not.”
“How can she still be thinking about the meeting?” I hoped that meant she wasn’t in too much pain.
